The present invention relates to a pattern data processing system configured for various kinds of patterns, such as characters and voices, on the assumption of multi-user. More particularly, it concerns a pattern data processing system having a learning function.
Also, the present invention relates to a pattern recognizing method of and system for executing a recognizing process of entered character and figure patterns.
There was proposed a prior art of pattern recognizing system in, for example, the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-135973. The prior art is of learning method on the assumption of a particular, or a single, user. It executes learning of patterns given by the users in, for example, the way that necessary data are entered in a data base to process.
For the reason, the prior art has to be made to learn the patterns used in common by a plurality of users (members) of a group individually even if the common patterns are agreed by them. That is, if a mark or the like is to be used in common by the members of the group, to make it possible to enter it by hand-writing, the individual users who are the members of the group have to make it to be pattern-learnt.
As an example, the group uses a kana-kanji conversion of a word processor that is a tacit common agreement in the group. If a term "*bishamon" should be converted to "*BISHAMON," for example, the term has to be entered individually. That is, to increase operationability of the own pattern data processing system, the user has to make by himself or herself, or ask another user to make the system learn the pattern. In other words, the operationability of the own pattern data processing system cannot be increased forever unless the user has to make, by himself or herself, or ask another user to make the system learn the pattern.
Therefore, to increase the operationability of the own pattern data processing system without making pattern learning by the user by himself or herself or asking another user to do it, it is a problem to allow another person of the group to use results of the pattern learning of the system.
It is preferable that the members of the group should learn tacit, or expressed, common agreements to omit their individual operations and increase the operationability. That is, a pattern data processing system for multi-user should be preferably made for generally wide use by not only a single user, but also a plurality of users.
For the purpose, there are problems: one is to extract patterns that would be used in common by a plurality of users of a group, and the other is to make the common patterns to be learnt as the ones belonging to the group.
Prior filing systems, such as the UNIX, are made to allow all the members of the group to read and write the files in the way that the files are prepared to have a group attribute. However, the prior filing system art alone has the disadvantage that a system manager of the group must make a plan in what a way and how data should be rewritten, or learnt by a dictionary, to increase the operationability.
There was proposed another prior art of pattern recognizing system in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-99583. This prior art is a method of obtaining a recognition result with use of a plurality of recognizing arrangements for respective characters to recognize them accurately depending on pattern. The method obtains candidates based upon appearance rates. However, the method has the disadvantage that if the appearance rate is low, recognition cannot be made even at a high accuracy a pattern is entered.
There was proposed still another prior art of pattern recognizing system in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-15911. This prior art is a method that a dictionary has description of what parts form what shape is. There was proposed still another prior art of pattern recognizing system in the Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2-56689. This prior art discloses a method in which a dictionary includes a description of what stroke are continuations of what shapes. These prior arts are based on that a recognition result can be made close to that of man or woman in the way that pattern recognition is made with use of parts of a pattern being formed of a joint or loop. However, the pattern recognizing system disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-15911 has the disadvantage that if a continuously hand-written character to be recognized has many curves as in hiragana, elongated or contracted parts of the character make it difficult to designate in advance what parts of the character are, resulting in wrong recognition. The pattern recognizing system disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-56689 has the disadvantage that a possible turbulence or distortion of the shape makes it difficult to judge what the shape is, resulting in wrong recognition.